Senior Product Manager, Federal Systems
Boston, MA
U.S. citizenship required.
ModalAI products are deliberately modular. A single system spans our boards and the VOXL software development kit, the sensors selected for it, the applications added to the software, the payload options and the modem options, and each layer can be configured to fit a mission. That flexibility is the product's strength and its principal risk: a system that can be configured many ways can be misunderstood many ways. You are accountable for ensuring our products can meet the mission for any of our users, and that every audience can understand them in its own terms, from customer-facing documentation to operations-facing documentation. You'll initially own the First Person View (FPV) product line: ModalAI video transmission (MVX), our remote controllers and ground control stations, and a family of sUAS fielded across the military services. Our documents are always current, and that is your standard to keep.
The historian Thomas P. Hughes observed that large technical systems are built by people who attend to every component at once, and that progress is set by the component lagging furthest behind. That is how we think about our products: boards, SDK, sensors, applications, payloads, modems, documentation and the operator are one system, and the mission outcome is decided by the part least understood.
What you'll do
- Own the product record for the FPV line across every layer: boards and SDK, sensors, software applications, payload options and modem options. Define what each configuration is, what it's for, and how it interoperates.
- Own the documentation in both senses: write and publish it yourself, and direct and approve what engineers and technical writers produce. Gather the technical inputs from the people who built it, then write for the reader.
- Publish release notes for every change, and update every dependent document before the change reaches the field.
- Decide what VOXL, our reference drones and the FPV line should do next, and make the case for it to engineering, customers and the rest of the company.
- Manage the full lifecycle, from idea through release to sustainment and replacement. New Product Introduction leads the path to production with engineering; you make sure we're never behind it, ask the right questions at each gate, and keep the record accurate. Good ideas carry weight here regardless of where they come from.
- Spend real time with the hardware and with the people who fly it, including at flight tests and customer sites.
On your desk in the first 90 days
- Stand up the single product record for MVX, the controllers and GCS, and every fielded sUAS variant, and get the East Coast team and customers reading from it.
- Publish release notes for the next SDK release before the units in the field find out the hard way.
- Scope the next FPV release with services that want different things, and write the decision down.
What we're hoping you're into
- Hardware product management, ideally for UAS or robotics. You've probably owned multi-SKU systems and kits, and you know what happens when the documentation lags the hardware.
- Working directly with DoD or federal customers, and translating what they need into what engineering builds.
- Being the person people come to when they need to know what's true about the product.
Pay, ownership and benefits
Salary plus stock options that vest and grow over time, plus health coverage, retirement plan and paid time off. We'll share the specific range before your first interview. The biggest benefit doesn't fit on a list: you'll work with the best partners and operators there are.
Eligibility
U.S. citizenship is required for this role. No security clearance is needed.
